I am by nature long winded. What takes others four words to say, probably takes me 25, and I will repeat myself. As a writer though, redundancy and wordiness need to be left behind.

At DDA, writing copy, specifically for websites, oftentimes means writing search engine optimized content. As I know my fellow writers have already covered, SEO content requires a lot more than just punching in keywords here and there. We need to create upwards of 30 to 40 professional and knowledgeable pages — and on a few occasions a lot more — of content targeting specific keywords, written specifically to the intended audience, with accompanying paragraphs and additional optimized content.

As with anything else, you need to be as concise as possible. People have short attention spans and regardless if they’re reading a brochure, watching a video, or looking at a tradeshow banner, the message has to be clear and to the point.

This holds true for content development for highly optimized websites that we are designing and developing.  While we target literally hundreds of keywords, the writers go to great pains to guarantee that every single one of those keywords is integrated correctly and concisely just as we would for any other content we are writing.

By keeping it concise and to the point, we are engaging visitors and keeping them interested, while at the same time achieving optimal search engine rankings.

Today officially marks one year that I have been at Dynamic Digital Advertising.  It’s hard to believe. Looking at my bulging file cabinet, however, it seems a little more believable.

As a writer, working at a full-service company like DDA has expanded my knowledge on so many different topics and mediums. Like the  three fellow professional writers who also act as Project Coordinators and in New Business Development, I am constantly running back and forth between departments, which often means some quick education.

Admittedly, I did not know much about programming. But with a team of highly-experienced programmers, I always have back up.  Thanks to our transfer to a new and advanced server system, I got a quick lesson in domain names, DNS, and hosting overall. I now have a working knowledge and can answer questions if needed. Who would’ve thought.

I also got to know more about Video Production by assisting with  development of the DDA Video Actors’ Network.

I tweaked scripts, prepared them for teleprompter, and gave brief overviews to the actors coming in. With so much video integration that we do for website development, I also got a lot of experience in video shoots, helping clients to find the right talent, working with our Casting Director to schedule and order necessary props and clothing, and making sure everything was running smoothly.

Then there’s website development in general, learning the mechanics of development and the techniques unique to DDA.

I know I have written it before, but I am always amazed by the talent that exists under one roof — the illustrators, graphic designers, animators, programmers, videographers, website developers, and, maybe I am a bit biased, most notably, my fellow writers.

I can recall in my last days in college, way back when, thanking the stars above that soon I would say adieu to the formidable research paper and all tasks like it, the most hated by me being the position paper.

How naive I was. Within just a few days of my internship at an arts and entertainment newspaper, it became quite clear that I was no where near done with the research — one of the most critical aspects  of good writing.

Now at DDA, those handy research skills are still put to good use. In writing for websites, video scripts, brochures, etc., I am continuously switching topics and audiences.  The only way to make my writing as effective as possible, is to know my topic and my audience.

Big words, flowery descriptions, and lots of professional jargon is not going to impress the real client or consumer. Attention spans are short these days, and if you don’t have the exact information they are looking for written clearly and concisely, regardless if they are reading it on your website or at your tradeshow booth, they are going to move on.

So as a writer, that means a little bit of research and orientation to familiarize myself. Luckily, my reporting skills allow me to do this in the quickest, most efficient way possible.

I am constantly impressed on  a daily basis what the writing department is capable of. After receiving a request mid afternoon for editing and expanding upon copy on a very complicated medical condition and treatment for an interactive CD, Laura, the Head Writer, had the text complete within two hours. Not only complete, but well written, professional, and knowledgeable.

Taking just a small amount of time to take a step back and really think about to whom you are writing and what they would be most interested in hearing, and really knowing what it is you are writing on, is what allows us to switch gears and produce high-quality copy as quickly as we do.

As evidenced by the pollen caked on the back window of my car, spring is officially here. Though with the sloppy weather of the last couple days it feels more like fall.

Regardless, it’s suddenly seems like everything is waking up around us, and in terms of New Business Development, everyone.

After a very brief lull, proposals have kicked backed up again with a vengeance. This means the majority of my days at DDA are now being spent on conference calls, e-mails, preparing proposals, internal meetings and discussions, and returning calls.

It is a very time consuming and involved part of my job. A large reason for this is the way DDA handles inquiries and every job it does — whether it’s web development, video, animation, graphic design, etc. — as I know I’ve written about before, in a very customized way.

There’s a process to determining what the best strategy for any project is — and it almost always begins with a conference call. This is where we connect with the client and really flush out what it is he or she is looking for.

From that, one of the department heads — website, video, graphic design, or programming — will prepare a time estimate. As we pride ourselves on being as cost efficient as possible and always staying as close to possible within the perimeters of the estimate, this can be tricky, and often requires several revisions and changes.

As one of four professional writers on staff, it is my job, as well as that of the other writers, to take the time estimate and turn it into a quote.

As you can imagine, with so many inquires flooding in as of late, this little process takes up quite a deal of time. But it’s a critical piece to retaining the customized and detail-oriented approach that makes us DDA.

A few days ago, I went to buy picture frames for a poster project I was working on for our new Dynamic Digital Advertising (DDA) office. There was a young lady working in the frame department at the time which made me say to myself, “Great, she’ll know what I want and I’ll be out of  here in record time.” So, I explained I was in search of 10″ x 10″ white square frames. “Oh,” she says “they are over here. We have 8″ x 11″ and 11″ x 14″ squares.”  ”No,” says I, “I need squares.”  ”Those are our squares.” I actually left the store bummed. Is it possible she did not know the difference between a square and a rectangle? Isn’t that something you learn in preschool? 

Segue to who we are as a full-service advertising agency at Dynamic Digital and what we expect. First, in terms of excellence, it is always to try and surprise clients with the quality of the work we produce. For example, we routinely provide not one logo when a company comes to us for logo development, we provide ten or twelve truly unique ways our graphic designers feel represents that company, its product/service, and the message they want to convey from a logo. The project coordinators work closely with clients to make sure we are on the same page with every request they make, be it changes to a website or reprints for a brochure, we have a process that ensures the client’s voice is always heard.

To stay competitive today, we have to excel everyday. As we have grown, we have resisted the temptation to isolate ourselves from clients. We do not believe in voicemail. Calls are answered quickly, as are emails. We want our clients to know that working with us on all their advertising, promotional, and marketing needs  includes a personal touch. Organically, our culture at DDA has always given everyone permission to perform.  David and I encourage initiative on every level. We knew when we started DDA that everyone who signs on — be it a programmer or a writer, a videographer or an animation artist, a production support person — has to WANT to deliver excellence. It cannot be foisted on anyone, it has to be the individual’s  choice. We have a saying on our wall “NO AVERAGE PEOPLE WORK HERE.” I should add, no average employee stays. 

“The principle is competing against yourself. It is about self-improvement, about being better than you were the day before.” Steve Young    

My younger cousin e-mailed the other day to ask if I ever had to do public speaking. It was for a college class project. She was referring primarily to my days in journalism, but after mulling over the question, I realized how important verbal communication is in my position as a writer — nearly just as vital as my writing skills.

A large part of what I do is interacting with existing and prospective clients. This runs the spectrum from phone calls to check up on progress, to troubleshooting any technical issues, to conference calls to discuss new projects.

I am always conscious that how I present myself is directly representative of Dynamic Digital Advertising (DDA).

We do great work. From the programmers, to the designers, to web developers,  videographers and everyone in between, we have a very talented group who can get things done well and on time. But there’s another aspect to what we do as well, which is client relations.

That genuine concern for a client’s project, their feedback, and the end product, is like adding just the right topping to a project that already combines some of the most innovative and cutting-edge technologies.

With Project Coordination and New Business Development duties, developing content, whether it’s for clients or DDA, is not something I always get to do a lot of.

Which is why when I have a particular writing project that I am working on, I look forward to it. For me, writing copy can be a very interesting and challenging process. I absolutely abhor cliches and as I am not always an expert on what I am writing — because we have clients in so many different industries — I am continuously pushing myself to find new and unique ways to write content that is engaging and that will catch the reader’s attention.

I even enjoy the variety in the style, as the content on a brochure is laid out much differently than the content for a website. You have to know what headline or short phrase is going to fully grab the reader and entice them to read the rest of the content, to know exactly what that particular audience is looking for.

I know that I would not have the same variety in style, topic, or to whom I am writing the piece, if I did not work for a full-service advertising and marketing agency.

I truly believe the constant challenge has made me a better writer.

I think it’s my background in newspapers that makes me so interested in proposal work.

While there is a lot about the newspaper world I was happy to leave behind when coming to DDA, the interviewing aspect, and preliminary research into a story, was something I missed.

In doing New Business Development, I am able to experience a piece of this on a daily basis. As a full-service marketing and advertising agency, we take on all projects from web development, and graphic design to video production and animation, and for varying industries and purposes.

On the front end, this means initial research into a specific company or medical facility to find out who they are and what they do, preliminary questions to determine the type of project they are looking for and a conference call to hammer out all of the details of the project.

While all of this leads to marketing or advertising pieces, it’s not entirely different from what I used to do. In newspapers, people come to you because they have a story to tell or something noteworthy to share with others.

Whether it’s a small business or large corporation, the prospective clients who approach us also have a story to tell and something worthwhile to share. For some it’s a new medical breakthrough that could change the face of treatment, for others it’s the release of a product they have dedicated their whole lives to developing.

Regardless of the purpose, the project, or what they hope to achieve, it is the duty of the five full-time, degreed writers, to guide them through the initial process, to work with them as we at DDA try to determine what it is that will best help them share that story they have been waiting so long to tell.

Time management skills are a needed ability in order to function in today’s busy world. In a broad sense, one must organize their work responsibilities and their personal responsibilities. Each area can be broken down into many smaller areas of focus.

My day at DDA ranges from production coordination, to SEM Marketing and pay per click ,to website updates, to SEO reporting, and any other elements that may get mixed in. I am always aware of what I must get finished in a day and allow time for the unforeseen to be handled.

I always know that my day will start with Production Coordination, where it goes from there is based on the needs of DDA.

When you work as a writer or copywriter professionally, especially in the marketing or advertising field, you not only need to have the ability to write on a variety of topics, you also have to have the desire.

At DDA, we have clients that vary dramatically, not only within the main categories of our company, Medical, Corporate, Video, and Corporate and Medical Training (CMT), but in industry, from home improvement, consulting, and human resources, to medical device manufacturers and pharmaceuticals companies.

For my fellow writers and myself, this means the need to immediately change topics and perspective — writing to varying audiences from prospective clients or employees, to patients, to other professionals in the industry — sometimes several times within one day.

Because of our ability to do this continuously and well, we can offer copywriting services, online, or for print media, beyond what other advertising or marketing agencies can. Additionally, our training in writing for search engine optimization (SEO), offers any business, whether Medical or Corporate, an extra edge, as we can put them at the top of search engines, while writing clean, professional, and engaging copy.

Whatever the day brings, regardless of the topic or field, the writers at DDA are prepared to handle it.